PressWEST is a co-operative of professional artists and business interests based in Queenstown. We wish to build sustainable infrastructure focused on the printmaking medium to service the remote and regional communities of the West Coast. We believe our initiative, a type of creative lab supported by the West Coast Council, is unique and will confirm the increasing presence of the arts within the West Coast Community.
Western Tasmania is a unique region where untold mineral riches have supported Tasmania’s development for over a century and a half. There has been extensive environmental damage as an outcome of this activity and this tragic ‘imprint’ now sits cheek by jowl with World Heritage wilderness. Considerations of indigenous occupation over millennia and a disadvantaged contemporary community suffering work place fatalities complete a picture of the region.
Artists are in a position to engage with these ‘big ideas’ through their artwork, their creative example and their collaborative instincts through such initiatives as a Print workshop. The facility brings order and stability to a dynamic scene.
Print media has a long history of communication, encouraging of a type of visual literacy and we feel artists and their tools of communication, such as the print, can make serious contributions to community well being and social development.
Managing Committee
Raymond Arnold | Artistic Director
Born in Victoria in 1950, Raymond Arnold moved to Tasmania in 1983, where he was deeply inspired by the island’s natural environment. Over his career, he has established himself as an internationally renowned printmaker and painter and is regarded as one of Tasmania’s most significant artists of the past 30 years. Arnold’s work forms a vital part of the discourse on the intersection of land and art in Tasmania, presenting the rugged beauty of the landscape and addressing the pressing issues of its past, present, and future.
In 2006, Arnold founded Landscape Art Research Queenstown (LARQ) with painter Helena Demczuk, a non-profit studio and gallery in the mining town of Queenstown in Western Tasmania. LARQ aimed to create a “wilderness” art space with an embedded residency program, serving as a hub for both their artistic practice and that of other artists who respond to the unique natural and cultural heritage of the region. LARQ had a shelf life of 10 years. The Unconformity Festival and PressWEST have been developed with the assistance of others out of the ‘slipstream’ of its passing.
Arnold has held over 60 solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows across Australia, Europe, and the United States. His works are included in prestigious collections such as the Imperial War Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Bibliothèque Nationale and Musée Courbet in France, as well as the National Gallery of Australia, Australian Parliament House, and State and Regional Galleries in Australia.
Helena Demczuk | Treasurer
My parents were Ukrainian migrants escaping the aftermath of WW II in Europe. They came to Australia and lived in a coal mining town in Gippsland Victoria. Decades later I found myself in the mining town of Queenstown Tasmania trying to create another type of future.
My cultural heritage was important to me so I enrolled at Monash University in Melbourne and studied Ukrainian language and literature.
In 2005 I completed a BFA at the University of Tasmania, School of Art which included a semester at the Glasgow School of Art. Painting and printmaking were my two areas of exploration. In the print room Lithography was my first love and superseded by screen printing. My artwork focuses on people, landscapes and the colour that unites them.
I have been living in Queenstown for almost two decades and with my partner Raymond Arnold initially established an ARI which we called Landscape Art Research Queenstown or LARQ in an old school. In its decade of operation LARQ held over fifty exhibitions, hosted residencies and facilitated many workshops.
I have also worked as Operations Manager at the local library/hub through this period, was a member of the community development organisation Project Queenstown and filled board roles on the Queenstown Arts & Heritage and later Unconformity boards.
Since 2019 I have ‘held the fort’ as The Unconformity’s West Coast representative through my position as Community Engagement Coordinator.
Maintaining an art practice since coming West with numerous solo and group exhibitions. Devoting considerable time and energy to the PressWEST project which is a studio based program of workshops, exhibitions and print facility development.
Jenny Groves | Chair
I have lived for many years in First Nation communities in the Northern Territory and since moving to the West Coast of Tasmania I have been exploring the landscape from the perspectives I gained there. First Nation stories associated with the West Coast landscape have been compromised or lost over time as European names are attached to landmarks and places as the process of colonization continues.
My paintings are constructed using the organic and inorganic materiality of the West Coast landscape as there is an abundance of readily available pigments scattered from mining residue and the plains behind Trial Harbour.
I completed an honours degree in Fine Arts from UTAS in 2016.
I have been part of PressWEST since moving to Queenstown from Trial Harbour in 2022 and have attended many of the workshops presented. In that time, I have gained an enormous amount of inspiration from participants and facilitators. The West Coast community involvement in PressWEST is growing and is an important aspect for the direction of PressWEST in the future.
Helen Moffett | Secretary
I am a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and earned a BFA in Textile Design. I have produced one-of-a-kind tapestry woven rugs and while I still use my loom my interests have gravitated towards surface design. And for that reason I have particularly enjoyed the workshops offered by PressWEST.
PressWEST Tasmania offers encouragement and support for a developing community of artists interested in, in some way, observing and recording the transforming West Coast landscape.
As Secretary for PressWEST Tasmania I look forward to working with this community of artists.
Raymond Trappitt | Public Officer
I have an extensive background in the corporate world specialising in business strategy and corporate governance. These skill sets complement the artistic direction of PressWEST ensuring our strategic plans constantly align with our vision for PressWEST within the West Coast community.
Supporting Members
Iris Blazely | Social Media
I am an artist and writer who lives on the West Coast, inspired by how the body and landscape have shared experiences of transformation, scarring and healing. I have a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of Tasmania and was a participant in the National Gallery of Australia’s Young Writers Program in 2023.
Zoë Liebersbach | Web and Tech Support
I’ve always been an environmentalist with a great appreciation for Tasmania’s wild places. Through my software work, I was involved in supporting environmental projects for mines on the West Coast, giving me a deeper understanding of the region. I relocated to Queenstown in 2023. With my background in art and technology, I’m excited to work with PressWEST.
